


In Loving Memory

by absolutelyCancerous (cal1brations)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-16
Updated: 2012-06-16
Packaged: 2017-11-08 05:04:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/439449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cal1brations/pseuds/absolutelyCancerous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Roxas loves sunsets.” <i>Especially the ones with lots of red</i>, Roxas’s stream of consciousness reminds Sora gently. The brunette smiles to himself, sympathetically, for the Nobody’s thoughts he hears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Loving Memory

“He’s miserable.”

“How so? He got a happy ending, didn’t he?”

“He’s _lonely_ , Riku.” Sora shakes his head, brows furrowed. His legs swing lazily as he sits on the warped branch beside Riku, sighing. “I wish I could make him feel better.” 

“It’s nice you want to help him, Sora,” Riku assures. Sora quirks a half-smile his way, before going back to his mindless staring off. Riku watches him silently, waiting for his friend to elaborate on his worries of a certain Nobody.

Sora sighs; it makes his bangs ruffle up for a moment before settling back over his forehead. “He misses Axel. A lot.” Pause, a shift to look at the silver-haired boy. “I didn’t know it was possible for someone to feel so down. To care about someone so much, actually.”

Sora lifts his hand to his mouth to nibble at his nails, a horrible habit in which the kid hadn’t actually gone about doing until shortly after his reunion with Roxas. Riku sighs quietly, finding himself staring off into the evening sky—a thousand shades of yellow and gold and red. Both boys are silent for quite a time, but it’s Sora who finally speaks up.

“Roxas loves sunsets.” _Especially the ones with lots of red_ , Roxas’s stream of consciousness reminds Sora gently. The brunette smiles to himself, sympathetically, for the Nobody’s thoughts he hears.

Riku arches an eyebrow and instantly gains Sora’s attention when he speaks. “Did he tell you why?”

Sora nods. Crosses his ankles and looks down towards the sand instead of out at the horizion. He never actually says why, though. Riku doesn’t pry. “He gets jealous of you,” Sora says with a light laugh, “he thinks you’re a good person, even if he never got along with you in particular.” 

Riku grimaces slightly; he can still smell the steel and the ozone and the wet leather cloaks. He can still hear Roxas scream venomous words, “ _I’m_ me! _Nobody else!_ ” and hear the anger in each puff of breath.

"Wait, not a “good person”. He says “good friend”. Whoops.” Sora corrects and snorts a laugh. Riku smiles, thankful of the compliment anyway. 

“I’m sure that goes both ways,” the silver-haired boy replies, stretching his arms up over his head.

Sora smiles, plucking at his shorts with wary fingers. He speaks up, for the upteenth time today, again.

“It’s probably not the same, but, have you ever seen people—like, a couple— and just felt really happy that they were happy with each other?”

Riku furrows his eyebrows in thought. He shrugs, turns to look at Sora curiously. “I’m not sure. Maybe; it’s possible, I guess. How come?” 

The brunette smiles, it’s a small, remembering-sort of smile. Blue eyes stay downcast as he speaks. As he files through the correct memories, the ones that aren’t specifically his to share.

“A lot of his memories are of him and Axel. Together. I mean, Roxas doesn’t like me rooting through all of them, but what he does let me see just…” he sighs, peacefully, “it makes me really happy that both of them could make each other happy. Even if they were Nobodies.” 

Riku studies Sora for a minute. Sora glances at him, with wide, sincere eyes.

“I think, if they knew how, they’d love each other. A lot.”

“Don’t you mean “they’d have”?” Riku inquires lightly. “Axel’s gone. And they were Nobodies, Sora. They can’t feel things like that.”

Sora shakes his head, smiling off at the bright red sunset ahead; the very last of the blood-red daylight dipping under the horizon line. It does painful things to his heart, makes Sora glance over memories of fire and laughter and the feeling of safety. The rich taste of sea-salt ice cream that comes from someone else’s lips pressed against Roxas’s.

“No. Roxas shares my heart, now.” He grins bigger, happier. “He knows how to love. In fact, I think he always did, really.”

Riku watches silently as Sora rubs idly at his chest, over his very-much-alive heart. The heart that thrums for two now, instead of just Sora himself. He blinks once, and Riku swears it’s Roxas who smiles with Sora’s lips and stares at the scarlet color of the final rays of the sunset with an expression that can only be defined as a blissful sort of want. Desire. 

“Axel knew how, too.” That’s definitely Roxas talking, Riku can tell solely from the sense of contempt that only the blonde boy was— is —so good with; a sort of self-assurance Sora could never hold to himself. 

It’s Sora who turns to smile at Riku. “After all, Roxas taught him.”

Riku smiles back, nods slowly in agreement. 

“There was definitely something different about him.” Riku answers with a coy smile. “Maybe it was just _you_ that set him apart from other Nobodies, Sora.”

Sora laughs, but it’s Roxas who nods, agreeing wholeheartedly. 


End file.
